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  <title>Chapter 15</title>
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            <h1 class="title">Chapter 15</h1>
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          <h2 class="subtitle">Belah</h2>
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      <p class="first first-in-chapter first-full-width"><span class="first-letter first-letter-b">B</span>elah couldn’t get the music out of her head, or the memory of their touch. Lukas’s intuitive desire to bring her pleasure through pain both thrilled and terrified her. She didn’t want to want so much, not again—it just reminded her of <i>him</i>. Iszak’s rough, primal treatment was also a reminder. He hadn’t spoken a word, but they’d understood each other perfectly.</p>
      <p class="subsq">There was one crucial difference between the brothers and Nikhil, however—<i>they</i> didn’t look at her as an all-powerful, immortal goddess. Their worship of her was innate, from man to woman. All they sought from her was pleasure, and at the very core of that pleasure was the sweetest, purest emotion she’d ever sensed: love.</p>
      <p class="subsq">She and Nikhil may have loved each other, but what bound them together in the past had been power—his need to possess it, and her need to relinquish it. She could claim plenty of power now, but it was a tool best used where it made sense—and it didn’t make sense to bring it out with either of the North brothers. Not unless she gave up all her power for them, whether they wanted it or not.</p>
      <p class="subsq">The power would still serve her when she gave herself to Nikhil again, though. At least, she hoped she’d be able to endure giving it up to him. Even when she’d done so in the past, she still maintained a level of control over him that he never realized she kept. And wasn’t that what had ultimately ruined everything? The power she had over him had corrupted him as much as her blood. She’d created that monster as much as he’d created himself. She’d have to be the one to un-make him, too, and with luck, she would have her chance soon.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah had no idea when he would call in her offer to have her again. She’d sensed his devious desire to make her wait and dwell on her old cravings for the oblivion that he knew he could offer her. Only now that she’d had thousands of years to reflect on those desires, she understood how wrong she’d been.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Now she wanted her children back. Now she wanted to explore the promise of love and joy that Iszak and Lukas represented.</p>
      <p class="subsq">She knew the music for what it was now. It was a mating call, and she had answered. She had answered them both, but despite the conviction that they both belonged to her, something wasn’t right. They weren’t happy with it, that much she had sensed when Lukas had discovered her and Iszak together on the roof. Being battered by the hurricane winds their conflict had produced had left her physically bruised, but the barbed thoughts that had shot between the two men made her heart hurt. Neither one wanted to admit that the other had seen her for what she was—his one true mate. She had no idea how to make them understand that it was the truth, and that it could be wonderful if they’d only come around.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah had spent another sleepless night basking in the rhythm of the recorded music and now stared out at the rising sun, trying to decide what she should do. Nikhil would be coming for her soon enough, and she <i>had</i> to find out where her babies were hidden.</p>
      <p class="subsq">But she’d found Iszak and Lukas, and she couldn’t stand the thought of letting them slip through her fingers even more.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Rustling noises came from behind her, and a rumpled-looking Erika came into the room, barefoot and smiling.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Morning,” Erika said brightly, then stopped. “Hang on.” She rubbed her eyes. “You shouldn’t be here. Don’t tell me Lukas kicked you out of bed. After the show last night, I was sure you had him hooked.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Behind her, Geva appeared, kissed his mate on the cheek, and headed to the kitchen. “Definitely caught the man’s eye,” the Red dragon said over his bare shoulder. “He had that look of a man who just knows he’s met the woman of his dreams.” He shot Erika an affectionate smile and his gaze lingered on her face. “Mother of his babies.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Erika rolled her eyes and parked herself on the sofa next to Belah’s blanket-covered feet. She reached out and rubbed one of Belah’s soles.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Tell me what happened. Did he fuck and run? Do I need to go knock some turul heads?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Geva snorted, then tilted a jug of orange juice to his lips and swallowed. “She’d do it, too,” he said when he lowered the jug.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Erika shot her mate a withering glare. “We own glasses for a reason, hun.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Returning her attention to Belah, she said, “Talk or I’m putting a boot up that bastard’s ass.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Nothing’s wrong with Lukas,” Belah said, and offered a helpless shrug and a half-smile to her friend. “He’s perfect. And so is his brother. Together, they’re perfect, but they don’t want to be … together, I mean.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Erika’s mouth dropped open. “Did I just hear you right? You met Iszak, too? I think I need you to back up and tell me everything.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah recounted the events of the evening, her skin growing flushed and her core aching at the memories. But the ache settled deeper in her soul when she got to the part where Lukas discovered her with his brother, the pair of them hovering in mid-air while Iszak made love to her.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“They were so angry, so hurt. The winds that blew around them were too much for me. If that’s the way they feel about me being their mate, I’m better off staying away from them both. Besides, something happened … someone they love dearly was taken by the Ultiori. They still hold deep anger for my part in the Ultiori’s existence, and they don’t even know it was me. I can’t lie to them if I’m to mate them. It’s bad enough that they hate each other right now. I couldn’t bear it if they hated me, too.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">She also couldn’t bear the looks of pity on her hosts’ faces, and the glimmer of a tear in Erika’s eye when she looked at Geva in appeal.</p>
      <p class="subsq">The Red dragon frowned. “They’ll tear themselves apart over this. Once a turul’s found his true mate, that’s it for him. If they can’t be with you, it’ll destroy them both. Let’s just hope they care about each other enough to work out their own differences. They know well enough how dragons work—multiple mates are by no means unusual for us.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“They’re good guys,” Erika said. “I can’t believe they wouldn’t come around, all things considered. I mean, you’re the <i>One</i>. Give them another chance, for their sake, Belah.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah smiled sadly. “I think I need to give them space.” And just hope that her week with Nikhil was over and done with by the time she sought the brothers out again. Because if there was one sure way to prove she wasn’t the monster they believed she was, it would be giving them the ashes of their enemy.</p>
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